Essays on Brand Personality Perception Through Voice

Abstract

The overall objective of this dissertation is to create insights into the perception of brand personalities through voice. Being the first to study this topic, the findings significantly contribute to the field of research and advance the knowledge about the vocal perception of brand personalities. Further, the dissertation’s results guide marketers and voice specialists in determining, selecting, or creating the appropriate voice to fit the desired personality of a brand. Regarding the increasing significance of voice AI integration in marketing and branding strategy, the insights and results of this dissertation help to overcome the managerial challenges that come with it. The present dissertation is specifically concerned with the perception of brand personalities conveyed through human voices, as opposed to those of artificial sources. Empirical evidence has shown that human voices are preferred in human-computer interactions over their artificial counterparts. This preference is based on the assumption that natural voices are more effective, elicit greater attention, and facilitate better recall with less concentration. This dissertation investigates the vocal perception of brand personalities from different perspectives. It begins with a qualitative study in Essay 1, which represents the current state of research in the vocal perception of human personalities and derives a future research agenda. Essays 2 and 3 deal with the vocal perception of brand personalities in an empirical manner.